Bring Me Home
by DatNatCatThoe
Summary: Or: Five times Thor carried Loki, and the one time Loki carried Thor. Pre-Thor, rated T for safety.


1

"Brother?" Thor called as he searched for his younger sibling. He hadn't seen Loki since early the previous morning, and he was starting to worry. Out of sight, Thor mused, certainly did not mean out of mind in this case.

"I must say, this is quite a surprise." Thor jumped at the unfamiliar voice that came from behind him. Turning around, he saw that it was Iona, who presided over the library. "I rarely see the golden price of Asgard in here without his brother."

"Good evening, Iona," Thor greeted. "I was actually looking for Loki. Is he in here?"

"I haven't seen him," she answered, "but that doesn't mean much. He's taken to hiding from me. Evidently I distract him."

Thor chuckled. "I do hope you don't take it personally. I will look around for him, if you don't mind."

Iona bowed. "It's your palace, Prince."

Thor resumed his search of the aisles, but he found no trace of his brother. Just when he was about to go search the gardens, however, he heard the quiet sound of deep breathing. "Loki?"

"Hmm?" The mumble came from a mere few feet away, and there Loki was, tucked away in a corner, and surrounded by many stacks of books.

"There you are, Brother. I was worried."

Loki scoffed but still smiled sleepily. "Of course you were."

"How long have you been in here?"

"Since yesterday. I found something most interesting in one of my scrolls." He yawned.

"Perhaps you should head back to your chambers, then."

"Perhaps I should."

When the trickster made no move to stand, Thor grinned and scooped him up in his arms.

"Thor, I'm not a child!" Loki protested.

"I never said you were," he answered as he carried Loki to his bedroom. "Goodnight, Brother."

"Goodnight, Brother."

2

Loki had never been fond of sparring, but, contrary to popular belief, it wasn't because he couldn't. He was perfectly capable of lifting a sword, or an axe, or a spear. In fact, he was quite proficient in fighting with a staff.

No, it wasn't that Loki was incapable. He just found it so... Pointless. Why clash with an enemy for hours on end when one could simply use one spell and be done with the matter? Magic always made things interesting, and much more exciting.

No one in the palace shared Loki's opinion, though. He had to go through the cursed training, anyway. Without using magic.

Sometimes, Loki mused, Asgardians were even crueler than Frost Giants.

So here the Silver-tongue was, fighting the notorious Lady Sif. He had chosen a staff, while Sif was using a double ended sword. When the instructor motioned for the two warriors to begin, Sif didn't hold anything back. She came at him with an unstoppable force, leaving Loki scrambling to block her blows. It was then he remembered the other reason he hated training so much. He tended to make many people angry with his tricks.

The fight seemed to last for ages, though Loki knew it was only a few minutes. Sif had the advantage of her rage from the beginning, and Loki's dodging and blocking only delayed the inevitable. Before he was quite sure what had happened, Sif had him pinned on the ground, sword on his neck.

"All right," Loki said. "I surrender."

But Sif wasn't quite done. Growling, she dug the sword farther into his neck, breaking the skin underneath. "That," she hissed, "was for my hair." With that, she released her hold on Loki and stormed out of the arena.

Loki took a deep breath to steady himself and slowly made his way up off the ground. "Not so fast, little Prince."

Crap.

A small crowd of warriors had assembled around Loki, and he recognized them as people who had fallen victim to his 'harmless' pranks. _Just talk your way out, _Loki told himself. _You can handle this._

"Now gentlemen, eight against one is hardly fair, wouldn't you say?" He was standing now, and though Loki had left the staff lying on the ground, he fingered the dagger hidden in his vest.

One of the men sneered. "You don't really play fair, wouldn't you say?"

And, before Loki could so much as draw his dagger, half of the men were on top of him, punching and kicking and yelling. He couldn't help when a cry of pain escaped his lips as one of the men got a good kick in aimed at his ribs.

Loki wasn't sure how long the beating went on. Minutes? Hours? Either way, the men eventually stopped and walked away, leaving him exhausted and gasping for precious air.

"Loki?"

Loki turned towards the sound of his brother's voice. "Thor..."

"What happened?" The elder prince ran to his brother, worry etched on his features.

"Got... Gained up on... Eight of them..." Loki had to stop to breathe.

"Let's get you to the healers." Thor picked up his brother and cradled him to his chest in order to jar him as little as possible.

Loki looked up at his brother. "Thank you."

If Thor was surprised, he didn't show it. "I'm your brother, Loki."

3

The two princes of Asgard were rarely called to the throne room, so whenever they were, the boys knew it was a matter of utmost importance. As Thor and Loki stood before Odin, this statement was furthered confirmed as the Allfather told them of a monstrosity in the east where villagers were practicing a dangerous and lethal form of dark magic.

"I fear the only solution is to gather our greatest warriors and charge the village," Odin concluded, looking at his sons.

"Charge the village?" Loki questioned. "You mean... to _kill them_?"

"My son, these people are very dangerous. We cannot have them practicing that kind of sorcery in these lands."

"So you're just going to charge in and slay them all? Every single villager?" Horror crept in on the edge of his voice.

"Loki, it is the only way to stop them."

"What of the mothers? What of the children? They're still _people, _Father! You would just _brutally murder _all of them, because of the mistake of a few?"

"Loki, you're not listening," Odin started.

"Oh, I'm listening, _Allfather_," Loki growled. "You would _kill your own people!"_

Thor tried to intervene. "Father, Brother-"

"Stay out of this, Thor!" Loki snapped, then turned back to Odin. "I can't believe you," he said, voice shaking. "I always thought you were so merciful. So just. So _fair._ But no... I was wrong. You... "

"Please, Son, you're not thinking clearly!"

"You're a monster." He whispered it first, but his voice slowly rose. "A monster. _You're a murderer!_"

"Loki, that is enough of this nonsense! We're done here!"

"_Monster!_" Loki shouted, standing his ground despite the dismissal. "_You're a monster and a murderer! You would kill innocent people!" _Even as Thor picked him up and carried him out of the throne room, he kept screaming. "_Monster! Murderer! I HATE YOU!"_

4

"Brother, you're sure you're feeling all right?"

Loki sighed. "Thor, I'm fine. Please stop coddling me." Yes, Loki was lying. Yes, Loki tried not to make a habit of lying to his elder brother. But, Loki reasoned with himself, Thor had been looking forward to going hunting with Fandral and Volstagg all week. He certainly wasn't going to ruin that by mentioning he was feeling under the weather.

Of course, "under the weather" didn't begin to cover it. Loki's head was pounding, he was freezing (which was peculiar), and his skin was warm to the touch (which was downright abnormal). He hadn't the courage to eat anything that morning, as he was sure it would come right back up.

"It's not coddling if there's cause for genuine concern," Thor argued. "The village elders look healthier than you do!"

"If you're speaking of Ingvar, I've been convinced he's Hogun in disguise for years."

"Loki, do not deceive me."

Just as the younger prince was about to reply, a wave of nausea rolled over him, and he dropped to his knees beside Thor.

"Loki!"

"I'm fine, Thor!"

Thor ignored his brother's protests and helped him up off the ground. "Loki, you're burning up."

"Brother, _please _do not make a fuss over this. I'll just go back to my chambers and rest for a bit."

"You promise you will go straight to your room and rest?"

"I promise."

With that, Loki straightened in his brother's grasp and started the walk towards his chambers-but not before a coughing fit came over him, leaving him leaning against the wall and gasping for breath.

Thor was at his side in an instant, scooping up his trembling body. "Let's get you to your chambers."

Loki only nodded weakly as he let Thor carry him down the corridor to the younger prince's room. "Brother?"

"Yes?"

"Don't be worried about me. I'll be fine."

Thor smiled down at Loki. "I'll always worry about you, little brother."

5

Despite what it looked like, Loki was _not_ hiding. That would be an unbecoming activity for a prince such as himself. He was a dignified son of Odin; such cowardice was not in his nature! Anyhow, sitting behind the bookshelf in his bedroom most certainly didn't constitute as such, and anyone who said so was an ignorant bilgesnipe.

Loki knew that Thor would be in here any minute. He would rush in, concern etched into his features, searching for his little brother. Then he would see Loki huddled in the corner and drag him to his feet, saying, _"Come now, Brother, why the long face? Now hurry up; we'll miss the feast!"_

And, while Loki wouldn't normally mind the intrusion-he would secretly welcome it, actually-into his private chambers, this time was different.

Thor had crossed the line.

Thinking about it, Loki supposed that neither of the boys had known, at the time, that there _was _a line to cross. It was all fun and games, no harm done.

But there _had _been harm done. Not that Thor had noticed.

Loki knew he was hard on Thor, but really, did he have to be so oblivious all the time?

Loki was _mortified._

Yet Thor simply couldn't keep his mouth shut. Blabbing on to his friends... And Sif...

_Sif._

Just because she was one of the few of Thor's friends-and his friend?-that Loki tolerated the company of did not mean that he was... _attracted _to her.

Did it?

He was going to kill Thor.

The knock at his door interrupted Loki's tumultuous thoughts. "What?" He growled.

"Loki?"

"I have no desire to speak with you, Thor!" Loki snapped.

"Brother, I'm sorry."

"Don't you _brother_ me!"

Thor sighed and tried again. "Loki... May I please come in?"

"No."

Thor opened the door anyway and knelt in front of his younger brother. "Loki, I'm truly sorry for upsetting you. I should not have said anything about Sif."

"Indeed you shouldn't have."

"Now will you please forgive me and come down to the feast? Mother and Father will be worried."

Loki sighed, wanting to hold onto his anger even though he knew he couldn't. "I suppose I can't stay mad at my only brother."

Thor grinned. "Now what do you say we go then?"

And before Loki could answer, Thor bent down and threw Loki over his shoulder, laughing at his protests as he carried his little brother down the halls of the palace.

+1

"_Brother!_"

Loki rushed to where Thor had fallen, ignoring the hordes of Vanir and Dark Elves fighting around him. As he knelt down next to his brother, all he could think was _how, how, how?_

How was it that the mighty Thor had been injured?

How was he not standing right now, offering reassurances to his younger brother, telling him to _stop worrying, Little Brother_?

How was this Thor, but not Loki?

"Brother?" He knelt next to the still form, hoping, hoping, hoping he was okay. "Thor, can you hear me?"

At the sound of his name, Thor blinked his big blue eyes open and took in the sight of his brother kneeling next to him. "Loki..."

Loki quickly cut him off before he could say anything, anything that could confirm what he feared. "You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay. You-You _have _to be okay, do you understand?"

As his younger brother scrambled to put pressure on the wound to his midsection to staunch the flow of blood, Thor smiled softly at him. "I can make no promises, Brother."

Loki stared in shock. _Thor_, admitting defeat? "No," he said adamantly, almost to himself. "No. No, no, no..." He reached for his magic, seeking to close the wound, but it was no use. The poison existing within the wound was too powerful for him.

He couldn't save his brother.

But there had to be something, some sliver of hope.

Right?

"Thor," Loki said, already picking him up. "I'm going to get you to the healers, all right? They'll fix you."

His elder brother frowned. "How?"

"I'm going to carry you."

Slowly, carefully, Loki stood, quivering slightly under the weight of Thor. He didn't know if he would make it. He didn't know if he _could _make it. All he knew in that moment was that he _had _to make it, because Thor was his _brother_, and he _couldn't _die, not here, not now.

The walk across the battlefield was a grueling one, Loki trembling with exertion and Thor deteriorating quicker than he wanted to think about. He had to focus solely on putting one foot in front of the other. Just a little more...

The healers saw them from 20 feet away, and they rushed forward to take Thor from Loki's arms. "T-take care of him," Loki said, grabbing one of the healers by the arm. "He has to make it."

She bowed. "He will, my Prince."

And he did: Thor pulled through, and the healers patched him up. Loki was later told that if he had come any later, it would have been too late.

"You saved me," Thor would say to him later, long after he had recovered.

"But," Loki would answer, "you saved me first."

* * *

**AN:**

**Thank you SO MUCH for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. This is my first EVER published fic (EEP!) so I would appreciate any reviews/feedback! Oh, and this is dedicated to DatGlowstickThoe, who encouraged me to write this and make an account on FF.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Thor/Loki/anything else. **


End file.
